TOP DIGITAL TRENDS: First up is a roundup of last week’s tech trends, compliments of AdWeek.  It was sort of a slowish week in the industry, so nothing too crazy here.  I think #1 is interesting – lots of bot fluff on Instagram, but at least they’re doing some housecleaning.  And no surprise at all on #3, as most teens are physically addicted to video-base social apps like Snapchat and Instragram right now.  Enjoy the list!  http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/these-6-new-digitally-minded-stats-got-our-attention-week-174072

MESSAGE A SONG: With all the buzz last week around Pandora’s rebranding, you may have missed a cool little sharing feature that’s now available in Apple’s iMessage app.  Pandora listeners can now share a :30 sample of a song via an iMessage chat thread.  Then when the recipient clicks to listen they’ll launch directly into Pandora.  Very cool indeed!  I’m guessing examples like this are just the beginning of a new “music messaging” trend.  Both TechCrunch and RAIN have this covered in the following links.  1) https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/13/pandoras-new-imessage-app-lets-you-text-your-favorite-music/  2) http://rainnews.com/apples-texting-service-adds-pandora-song-sharing/

THE FUTURE OF AUDIO DOWN UNDER: And finally, Jette Speights from our PR team shared this article over the weekend, and I thought it was appropriate to pass along,  In it the CEO of IAB Australia talks about the evolution of audio – from radio station DJ booths to website, and from physical albums to purchased downloads to streaming.  Although he’s talking about the transformation of the music industry in Australia, it should seem remarkably similar to what’s going on in the US.  His main assertions are that audio has been irreversibly changed by digital technology, and that we’re only at the beginning of the digital audio revolution.  Great read!  http://www.adnews.com.au/opinion/the-inevitable-disruption-of-audio

Have a great Monday guys!

GOOGLE VS. THE MRC:    In September there was a surprising outcome during a standard MRC audit of Google’s ad serving platform.  In the audit the MRC concluded Google’s method of counting mobile impressions served didn’t meet its criteria, which was just updated in April.  As a result Google lost MRC accreditation for that part of its business.  So what happened?  Up to now Google has counted impressions served on the fetch – meaning when the server calls up the ad an impression is counted.  But the MRC’s updated standard for mobile, which now matches web, requires at least 50% of the ad must be in view for at least one second.  In other words, the ad must actually be rendered, and not just fetched.    I’ve included two articles below on this –  the first one from Business Insider outlines the issue, and the second from AdWeek discusses Google’s remedy to change its methodology and regain accreditation.  Interesting stuff in an ever-changing mobile ad tech landscape.  (1) http://www.businessinsider.com/google-doubleclick-suspended-from-media-rating-council-accreditation-2016-10?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWVdZNFlUYzBZamRqT0RJMyIsInQiOiJ2YnR5Y0hrV2MrYmMyUVZmUmpqY0RsYUE4OVlYbFlTemRMV0plb0tjUG15djhPYkhHTjF4MXhmYzVsSFJjNUR0Tk4xak95R2I5d0pNXC9TdG9kbTV4WEdUcEc1TGxvSEFMV2NVRXRmWlNzMm89In0%3D  (2) http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/google-rolling-out-new-technology-publishers-count-mobile-viewability-174023

DIGITAL TAKING OVER THE DASH:  Over the past few years we’ve seen the proliferation of digital apps in the connected car dashboard.  Pandora was one of the early pioneers, and is currently in over 140+ car models spanning 20+ manufacturers.  For a peek into the next chapter of this evolution check out the following article from RAIN.  The author predicts Apple Carplay and Android Auto are about to hit ciritical mass (as early as 2017), and usher in an open-architecture model of tomorrow’s digital dashboard.  Picture either of these two ecosystems as the overall highway to deliver content to the dash, and the individual broadcasters/publishers as the cars on highway (car analogy overkill, I know).  So what does this mean for the radio industry?  Up to now broadcasters have enjoyed a near-monopily on the buttons in the dashboard, and as a result in-car listening makes up over half of radio’s total listening time.  Moving forward expect total time spent with AM/FM to massively erode once consumer choice begins to proliferate in tomorrow’s connected car.  http://rainnews.com/apple-carplay-and-android-auto-are-about-to-explode/

LESSONS IN CRISIS MANAGEMENT:  And finally this week, I wanted to share an interesting media case study from a few years ago.  For a point of reference consider the current fiasco Samsung has on it’s hands with it’s Note phones’ batteries catching fire, and then even the replacement phones having the same problem.  Things are so bad that Samsung had to ship retailers fire proof boxes to send it’s defective phones back in.  Worst PR situation you’ve seen, right?  Well maybe not.  Consider what P&G went through with it’s Pampers Dry Max diapers in 2010.  They had a crisis on their hands when word spread through early social media that Dry Max caused chemical burns on babies’ skin.  This is absolute last thing you want to be known for as a diaper brand.  So what did P&G do to crisis manage this situation?  The following throwback article takes you deep inside their PR war room in May of 2010.  The decisions made, and the lessons learned about getting in front of sitautions and owning the narrative, are relevant today for Samsung or any other business in the crosshairs of a crisis.  Great weekend read if you have the time!  http://adage.com/article/news/pampers-battled-diaper-debacle/143777/

Have a great Friday (and weekend) guys . . . and GO CUBBIES!!!

US AD SPENDING SURGES:  Magna Global has released a revised US Ad Spending forecast for 2016 and beyond.  Overall media spending looks strong, with +6.3% growth vs. 2015.  Of course if you take Olympics and Political out the YoY growth drops way down to +1.6% – amazing to see the impact of those two occasions.  The other story inside the numbers is Digital’s continued ascension in the media spend pecking order.  For 2016 Digital is expected to finish just ahead of TV in overall revenue, but by 2020 its forecasted to be 40% higher.  To really understand the impact of digital on each sector’s increases check out the graph below.  It’s literally the only thing driving growth for Radio, Print, and Television, while the traditional players continue to erode.  Expect this narrative to continue for years to come.  http://www.insideradio.com/u-s-ad-sales-grow-at-strongest-rate-since/article_d472cdd0-9119-11e6-ba32-63d088ab342b.html

NEXT ON-DEMAND BATTER UP:  I teased this out about a month ago, but now it’s official.  Amazon is launching an updated on-demand streaming platform utilizing three tiers of service; 1) $3.99/mo for Amazon Echo owners – this level only provides music through the Echo/Dot speakers, 2) $7.99/mo for current Amazon Prime subscribers – their original music plan used to be free for Prime subs, and 3.) $10/mo for a full on-demand subscription – similar to current Spotify and Apple offerings.  But there’s been very little information on the music-side of the product.  In other words, what makes the music experience on Amazon better than the competition?  So it feels more like an ecosystem sell – if you’re already on the Amazon platform just add some music, right?  Other large tech companies have already tried the ecosystem strategy and have failed spectacularly . . . remember Samsung’s Milk Music or any of Apple’s previous iterations of their streaming service?  Based on this recent history Amazon may need to do more than just “build it and they will come”.  http://www.investors.com/news/technology/amazon-takes-on-apple-spotify-pandora-with-music-streaming-plan/?yptr=yahoo

NOT YOUR FATHER’S PANDORA:  And finally today, AdAge does a really nice job of highlighting Pandora’s new logo and imaging as a part of a broader narrative around the company’s reinvention.  From new imaging, to the upcoming external marketing campaign, to the launch of expanded service tiers like Pandora Plus and on-demand, there has literally never been a more exciting time for Pandora.  Kudos to our PR team for helping spread the word and create buzz amongst the most influential trades in our industry!  http://adage.com/article/digital/pandora-debuts-logo-digital-campaign-push/306241/

Have a great Thursday guys!

SHADY RATINGS GAME:  As a follow up to yesterday’s article about Nielsen artificially inflating radio’s YoY Time Spent Listening stats by adding streaming to its numbers, I wanted to share a real life example of how the broadcasters can employ this data.  My spies at Cumulus uncovered the following screen shots from a recent earnings call deck.  Check out the difference in recent performance between the two charts.  The one on the left is for Cumulus’s PPM-rated markets, showing dramatic ratings increases.  Compare that to the chart on the right showing their Diary-rated markets, with no increases.  Did Cumulus’s Program Directors in the PPM markets all become geniuses in the last 12 months, while their Diary market counterparts continued to struggle? Of course not.  The only difference between these two groups is the methodology Nielsen uses to measure TSL.  The PPM markets are now getting the benefit of streaming listening added to goose their ratings up, while the Diary markets don’t have streaming added.  This tells you all you need to know about the validity of Nielsen’s ratings data.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:  And in case you’re wondering how exactly Nielsen ratings work with regards to time spent listening, Nielsen has just released a first-of-its-kind panelist profile, along with this handy diagram.  Are you can see, the two basic components of Average Quarter Hour Ratings (AQH) are the number of unique listeners (Cume) and the average amount of time they spend listening to a station (TSL).  By including streaming listening minutes into the TSL component the overall AQH moves higher.  But since most broadcaster run different commercials on their streams then they do over their terrestrial signal, through a process called ad insertion, advertisers aren’t necessarily reaching these extra stream listeners.  But rest assured, they’re now paying for them!  http://www.insideradio.com/nielsen-reports-peel-back-curtain-on-panelists/article_b5ded8d0-9053-11e6-b03b-1f88333dc484.html

WHAT’S IN YOUR WALLET?:  And finally today, let’s take a stroll into the world of FinTech.  Mobile-based payment via Near Field Communication (NFC) is a relatively nascent technology in the US today, but it appears that’s about to change.  Right now NFC accounts for 9% of in-store credit card transactions and only 5% of total cc volume.  Apple is the leading Vendor with its ApplePay service.  Moving forward expect to see more retailers, like the Kohl’s example mentioned in this AdAge article, to in-house their own payment solution.  The challenge for consumers is that they’ll need an app for each store’s specific platform.  But the upside for shoppers is the ability to link things like rewards points and couponing directly to NFC-based purchases.  And if that wasn’t complicated enough, consider the credit cards themselves who are scrambling to convert existing cardholders to their mobile payment solutions.  All of this is creating a high-stakes convergence of Retail, Tech, and Financial Services – should be very interesting to watch this one shake out.  http://adage.com/article/digital/apple-pay-facing-stiff-competition-retailers-services/306242/

Have a great Wednesday guys!

TSL SNEAKINESS:  Over the coming weeks you may encounter radio reps gleefully touting the latest Nielsen study showing that their time spent went up YoY, for the first time in forever.  What they won’t point out is that Nielsen changed its methodology to include minutes listening on digital devices (so basically their streaming side), while last year’s survey only counted terrestrial listening.  The broadcasters are claiming this change creates a more “apples to apples” way of looking at radio vs. other media.  But in reality they’ve skewed their own numbers by changing the criteria, and have created an “oranges to orangutans” scenario with this data.  Nothing to do proactively with this info – just be ready to rebut if you hear a client or agency referencing a radio claim that TSL is up.  http://www.insideradio.com/free/nielsen-time-spent-with-radio-is-up-across-demos/article_d74a9872-8f83-11e6-af34-bf881ec4fac0.html

NATIVE 101:  Next up is a very deep dive into Native Advertising in the following eMarketer white paper.  They dissect every aspect of native, including revenue growth of this sector, the conflict between native and op-ed, and native’s ability to solve for ad-blocking.  If you have a quiet 15 minutes it’s worth the read.  But if you don’t have the time, at least take a look at page 7 featuring Pandora’s Jonathan Eccles.  He does a nice job of highlighting the inherent strengths of Pandora’s new display and video ad units as native solutions.  Good ammunition to have as you battle it out on this important frontier of the media landscape.  https://www.emarketer.com/public_media/docs/eMarketer_Native_Advertising_Roundup_2016.pdf

CAMPAIGNING LIKE IT’S 2012:  Have you noticed we’re in election season yet?  Amongst the sea of political advertising Pandora continues to receive press as THE go to digital media option for candidate and issue advertising.  AdWeek picked up the story, featuring our VVP of Political Sean Duggan.  Sean’s main point, that political advertising always seems to be a step behind the industry, actually makes total sense.  Campaign consultants who plan media are always using the last election cycle (two or even four years ago) as their model, with the belief to keep doing what worked back then.  Unfortunately years are an eternity for media consumption change, which means campaigns are advertising to where voters used to spend their time, and not where they are today.  That’s why TV, and other incumbent media types, have held political dollars longer than other categories.  But as we know, it’s just a matter of when (not if) even the most hardened politicians see digital as the key to opening the ballet box.  http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/political-campaigns-need-embrace-digital-media-if-they-haven-t-already-173979

SUMMER DOLDRUMS FOR STREAMERS:  Triton is out with its monthly Webcast Metrics Rating for July.  As in previous years, the summer months are seeing a slight reduction in Average Active Sessions (AAS).  Month-over-month listening for total streaming and also Pandora specifically were -4%, which is in line with the seasonal trend.  Overall YoY streaming is still +13% vs. 2016, which is pretty amazing growth by any standard.  The normal graphs are below.  http://rainnews.com/summertime-dip-in-webcast-listening-in-july-while-strong-year-over-year-growth-triton-digital/

Have a great Tuesday guys!

VIEWABILITY’S DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD:  To get the brain blood flowing on a Monday I thought I’d share a solid piece on striking the right balance between viewability and efficiency.  The article’s author poses a provocative question about whether the quest for 100% viewability is worth the cost.  To answer this he backtracks to the IAB’s original definition of viewability from 2012, and then traces how we arrived at today’s 100% viewable agency mandates.  The recommendation – the premium you’ll pay for only buying 100% viewable impression isn’t worth the benefit derived, and the scale will be reduced due to the relative scarcity of completely viewable inventory.  The proposed solution is benchmarking – where a percentage (like 70%-80%) of impressions must be viewed, and as long as that condition is met the buy will be made under normal buying parameters at normal CPMs.  Seems like a fairly reasonable solution to the viewability conundrum.  http://adexchanger.com/data-driven-thinking/efficiency-vs-100-viewability-important-metric/?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWTJRd1pUUXpaVE0xTjJRNSIsInQiOiJiSE9GcDVWV3lydzRkUnFrRDRRdHZ6aWdpM09cLytIbDR3emhHWE4wSnVQUHlleG5ENlNlSmVJOVZXQ1h2eW56aU54bFdoR1g0ZTZMSGdIZU1yTWJzb0FiM0t4cTRwR0s4alwvR1wvcFBucHd3Yz0ifQ%3D%3D

FOOTBALL RATINGS ON THE SIDELINES?:  Over the past few months we’ve seen a steady stream of data showing the decline of network TV’s set top ratings.  It looks like even the mighty NFL isn’t immune to this trend.  Over the first quarter of the season the NFL’s TV ratings are down an average of 11%.  Most of this hit is coming during the Thurs/Sun primetime games at -17% YoY, vs. the Sunday afternoon games only -5% YoY.  Industry reaction is mixed – ranging from nobody panic it’s only a month’s worth of data, to this is another indication of the long-term decline of King Television.  As an avid football fan and a Chicagoan, I can tell you the Bears are doing nothing to contribute to the NFL’s ratings this year. 🙂  I’m sure we’ll hear more about this as the season progresses.  http://adage.com/article/media/heaven-hell-preacher-a-respectable-start/306209/

SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT 2.0:  And finally today, a fun albeit weird walk down memory lane in the world of music.  Leave it to the NY Post to pick up the recent recreation of Nirvana’s famous Nevermind album cover.  You know, the one with the naked baby submerged in the pool.  Well this time around it’s still the same baby person, only now he’s 25 years old and THANKFULLY wearing a bathing suit.  I’ll date myself by admitting I was in college when Nirvana launched the grunge phenomenon with this album.  I can remember seeing the album cover and hearing their songs for the first time like was yesterday.  Really makes you believe in the power of music.  Happy anniversary naked pool baby!  http://nypost.com/2016/09/23/nirvana-baby-recreates-iconic-album-cover-25-years-later/

Have a great Monday guys!

TOO BIG TO FAIL:  First up today is a fairly bold assertion by an industry analyst at Needham on the importance of Pandora and Spotify to the music industry.  The main takeaway is that both streamers are “too big to fail”, given their growing importance in the labels’ revenue model.  The growth of streaming as a % of revenue to the music industry is well documented, making up 47% of topline rev in the first six months of 2016.  Pandora and Spotify combine for an astounding 76% of that total.  So if these two cash cows don’t stay healthy it’s hard to imagine sustained profitability for the entire music  industry. http://www.investors.com/news/technology/pandora-spotify-said-too-big-to-fail-discordant-music-industry/?yptr=yahoo

THE CANDIDATES HAVE VOTED WITH THEIR WALLETS:  We all know how hard our Political team has worked over past two years to be ready for the 2016 election cycle.  That work is paying off and getting noticed by the industry, and has made Pandora the one clear “winner” in this year’s elections.  In the article Sean Duggan describes the secret of Pandora’s success – the ability to efficiently target from the state level down to school districts, and still provide data driven targeting with meaningful scale.  No matter what your political affiliation this is an election result we can all be happy about! http://modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/deadheads-trump/

DON’T CALL ME SOCIAL:  AdWeek has a really interesting piece on the perception shift happening amongst the major Social digital players.  For the most part these guys are trying to get out of the “social” bucket and be perceived as more of a multi-faceted media company.  This is partly because they want to unlock non-social digital budgets (smart), and also not be compared to FB (really smart).  The money quote comes from Nick Cicero, CEO of Delmondo, who says “social networks have evolved beyond a destination into normal behavior on the internet. With that evolution, the way that these companies define themselves also has to evolve.”  We’re seeing this trend as we come up against the Snapchats and Twitters in more and more RFPs.  Interesting trend to watch.  http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/why-snapchat-facebook-and-other-platforms-are-trying-shed-social-label-173781

DEFY YOUR LIMITATIONS:  Finally, I’d like to leave you with a little inspiration heading into the weekend.  You’ve probably heard the saying that your only limitations are the ones you set upon yourself.  Well the next time you want to give up on a certain goal remember the story of Glen Dick.  He’s a paraplegic dad who has not let paralysis from the neck down prevent him from actively parenting his daughter.  In fact, their bond is actually stronger now because of the extra effort it takes to do activities together.  And if that wasn’t inspiring enough, Glen Dick has just completed a children’s book with a Go Anywhere theme, to serve as an inspiration for others to push past their limitations.  Hopefully this story will inspire you, as it has me, to never say never to your dreams and aspirations!  http://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/family-relationships/paraplegic-dad-pens-book-about-adventures-with-6-year-old-daughter/ar-BBwZLuA

TOTAL AUDIENCE CHARADE:  Nielsen continues to dribble out data from its Q2 Total Audience Study.  The latest research shows consumers’ time spent aligning into three primary buckets, as referenced in the graph below – TV (reds), AM/FM Radio (green), and Online (blue/web and oranges/in-app).  Nielsen makes this as confusing as possible by not including streaming audio in the Radio bucket and by slicing web and mobile time spent when they’re both really online.  If you correctly regroup the data you’ll see online at 2:50 in daily time spent, surpassing Radio’s 1:52.  Nielsen’s slight of hand is understandable since most of their revenue comes from TV and Radio – which means they’re getting paid to make the broadcasters look as good as possible.  Fair and balanced research, eh?  But those smoke and mirrors can’t undo the reality that consumers’ time spent with media is more fragmented than ever, and online is growing at the expense of traditional media.  http://rainnews.com/mobile-keeps-growing-in-nielsen-q2-total-audience-report/

STREAMING PLAYOLA:  Deezer is taking an novel approach to revenue generation by offering artists a pay-for-play.  Yes, charging artists.  So how does it work?  Deezer is partnering with an online music promoter called Feature.fm, which touts the ability to “guarantee your songs get played and heard on streaming radio stations to a targeted audience”.  Deezer is now one of those streamers who’s distributing Feature’s paid content.  I see two problems with this setup.  First, Feature’s business model stinks like the old Playola schemes did back in the early days of radio . . . sure I’ll play your music, just palm me a $20.  And second, the insertion of paid Feature music into Deezer’s algorithm for song selection means listeners will hear artists who have artificially prioritized themselves up on the platform.  So it won’t be the best music for individual listeners, just music which is paying the most to be heard.  http://www.insideradio.com/free/deezer-will-now-play-an-artist-s-music-for-a/article_0aa96666-8ac6-11e6-b842-43d7214a6613.html

DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR FOOD COMES FROM?:  Warning . . . be prepared to have your mind blown on this last one.  The following infographic has been making the rounds on FB and LinkedIn, and I thought it was worth sharing.  It visualizes the top 10 Food & Beverage companies and all the brands each owns.  It’s pretty much every F&B item you could consume, all owned by a handful of parent companies.  The article below also ranks them by annual global revenue.  If you cover one of these parents/brands this is a useful sheet to keep handy.  I know the visual below is a bit of an eye chart – a larger version is available on the link.  (One note – you might be wondering where P&G is on this list.  OxFam created this infographic for food-based companies.  And since P&G is more of a non-food CPG they weren’t included.)  http://www.businessinsider.com/10-companies-control-the-food-industry-2016-9/#general-mills-3

Have a great Thursday guys!

HISPANIC MILLENNIAL FOCUS:  We already know the importance of the Hispanic audience from both listener and advertiser perspectives.  Traditional TV and Radio have owned this marketplace for years on the backs of endemic powerhouses like Univision and Telemundo.  As you can see in the attached Inside Radio article, broadcasters have recognized the value of the millennial Hispanic audience and are coming after it.  The article is a fairly detailed road map of what the other guys are doing (or are attempting to do), so it’s worth a read.  But it’s just as important to point out what the broadcasters can’t do.  Radio stations can only target Hispanic consumers when they’re listening to SL content.  They can’t serve in-language ads when the same listener turns on a non-SL station, because they don’t have registered users.  By contrast Pandora can identify Hispanic listeners based on their music consumption, accurately place them in a Spanish Preferred segment, and serve SL ads even when they’re listening to English content.  This allows marketers to leverage the power of this audience no matter what music they’re listeing to!  http://www.insideradio.com/free/culture-and-diverse-programming-keep-hispanic-millennials-tuned-in/article_9419627a-8936-11e6-9aca-0f20bb307552.html

STREAMING 101:  Quartz is featuring a comprehensive guide on everything you need to know about music streaming services available in the US.  The front half article is more of a rundown on the various streamers with their cost, scale, and points of differentiation.  The back half of the article gets a little deeper into the nuances (like Taylor Swift not being available on Spotify).  Nothing too shocking here, but a good refresher in case you need it.  http://qz.com/780926/the-complete-guide-to-getting-your-moneys-worth-out-of-music-streaming/

WHO WILL MAKE THE HOT LIST?:  And finally, a Pandora has been nominated in two categories for AdWeek’s annual Reader’s Choice Awards.  Please take a moment to click on the link below.  You’ll see the Mighty P listed for both Hottest Music App and Hottest Digital Brand of the Year.  Please vote early and often in both categories.  Not kidding – you can actually vote as many times as you want.  This year let’s take down iHeart, who usually has a bunch of interns in some windowless room clicking over and over!  http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/hot-list-what-are-2016s-top-digital-brands-apps-and-must-have-products-173834

Have a great Wednesday guys!

THE DIRT ON GE0-BASED TARGETING:  First up this morning is a very detailed summary on the state of geo-based digital ad targeting.  This article is sort of a grind, but worthwhile to get through.  It outlines the vast spider web of third party ad tech/mar tech companies who are accessing consumers’ lat/long data after they naively press that “agree to opt in”  button when installing a new app.  It’s fair to say consumers have no idea how many companies are getting their hands on this data.  Therefore it’s reasonable to assume we could get to the point of an opt out revolt once consumers realize they’re getting digitally groped by strangers.  It also underscores the importance of giving consumers something valuable in return for opting in.  Pandora has solved this by giving listeners real time updates on ticket availability for bands they prefer via Ticketfly, but very few other publishers can actually complete their end of the opt in deal.  Get ready for more updates as this geo-marketing frontier heats up.  http://adage.com/article/digital/mobile-location-trouble-opting/306121/

IT’S A STREAMING WORLD AND WE’RE JUST LIVING IN IT:  Over the past few months we’ve covered the US Record Label’s return to profitability due to the surge in streaming royalties.  Now a research firm called Strategy Analytics takes the growth one step further by forecasting streaming’s impact on global label royalties out to 2022.  The prediction is pretty shocking – ad supported royalties growing by 2.5x to $1.9B and paid subscription royalties growing by 3.5x to $9.5B.  While the methodology used to come up with these numbers isn’t totally clear, stats like smartphone proliferation and streaming service distribution in 2^nd and 3^rd world countries were factored in.  Even if these numbers are close to accurate, it’s safe to say we’ll be living in music streaming world within the next five years.   http://rainnews.com/streaming-pegged-to-dominate-global-mobile-music-market-by-2022/

A DATA MARRIAGE:  And finally, yesterday news broke about Salesforce’s acquisition of Krux. This is a pretty smart move for SF who needed a DMP like Krux to self-monetize the data it already possessed in its Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SMC). In fact, up to now SF has been selling its data to DMPs like Oracle and Adobe. Now they’ll be able to leverage the power of that data within their own ecosystem. As you probably know, Krux has a data partnership with Pandora. I wouldn’t expect this M&A to change anything about that arrangement. But we may see enhanced offerings from Krux once the SMC data is incorporated. http://adexchanger.com/data-exchanges/salesforce-buy-krux-closing-ad-tech-gap-rival-marketing-clouds/?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTm1ZM016Z3lZakptWkRVdyIsInQiOiJpdm03cmFmemVBZUVlXC9zaUxvSGFLRHNXOWJKWFB4S3pNYTlaOFJZSjNGeVdkV1RGRnd6YjVqVk9JcHB6SjNWaU4xU0IxcE8yWE1GazdnUGRwZFwvZFRWRjMxb0tyVitDck5paFZITXM3c2EwPSJ9

Have a great Tuesday guy!